Mountain National Parks of Southern Poland

3 beautiful mountain ranges, 3 national parks protecting unique and most precious fauna and flora of the Southern Poland. Great active week full of trekking, stunning views over Tatra Mountains, Pieniny and Bieszczady and a delicious local cuisine!

Tatra Mountains are the highest mountain range in the Carpathian Mountains – a natural border between Slovakia and Poland with the highest point in Poland: Rysy, at 2499 meters. Zakopane, a town at the foot of the Tatra Mountains, is a center of highlanders culture. Visitors are amazed by the view over the Valley of the Five Lakes but also by the unique architecture where houses are all constructed from wood without the use of metal nails and traditionally every building has its own name. The Tatras are protected as the Tatra National Park.

Pieniny, a small rocky group of mountains visible well already from Nowy Targ, extends from Czorsztyn village to Szczawnica town. From Sromowce Niżne, the Pieniny are cut by the Dunajec river, which following a winding course creates the Pieniny Gorge. The section between Sromowce and Szczawnica is known as the most beautiful part of the Pieniny range. Here, the river is surrounded by numerous steep white limestone slopes covered with lush vegetation.

Bieszczady National Park and its wild mountains areas provide shelter to bears, wolves and bison. The beautiful landscapes also house a trail featuring antique wooden churches. Bieszczady are a romantic destination with the charm of the most remote and forgotten place in the world and feel on your own this amazing isolation from civilization. The park’s riches include the growing herd of bison – with 280 members this is the second-largest collection of wild bison in Poland (after Białowieża Forest) and thus in the world. The park also hosts a Hucul horse farm. A unique feature of the Bieszczady National Park are the numerous traces of settlements from before the Second World War. In the 1940s, residents of this area were resettled in other parts of Poland. Monuments to them can be found in the form of historical wooden Greek Orthodox churches joined to the Podkarpackie Wooden Architecture Trail.

ACTIVITY LEVEL:

MAIN INFORMATION ABOUT THE TRIP:

Available dates: FULL – to schedule a trip for a group please contact us
Duration: 7 days
Start and finish point: Cracow or Warsaw. Transport from other city or airport upon request.
Tour route: Cracow or Warsaw – Zakopane – Szczawnica – Niedzica – Wetlina – Cracow or Warsaw
Prices:

6 persons and more – 849 EUR/per person

4 persons – 1049 EUR/per person

2 persons – 1149 EUR/per person

Price includes: transportation from Cracow or Warsaw by bus (with English speaking driver; transfer from any other city upon request); accommodations in local high standard guesthouses (with private bathrooms, singel rooms or twins for couples), three meals per day (breakfast, lunch and dinner; every evening a different traditional Polish dinner with wine); English speaking guides; entrance fees and insurances.

Day 1 Transfer to Zakopane and a welcoming breakfast in a local restaurant. Later we start our first Tatra walk (the difficulty of the route is adjusted to the condition of the participants). The environmental expert is explaining the natural specifics of the region along the way.

Day 3 Transfer to Szczawnica to: Dunajec River Rafting on a traditional raft – it is an amazing meeting with the wild nature, unchanged for thousands of years – one of the greatest tourist attractions in Europe. The tradition of steering down the river on a wooden raft built from narrow boats tied together to each other dates back to the first half of the 19th century. During the rafting the raftsmen talk about the Pieniny Mountains recalling the legends about Janosik as well as pointing to the most interesting spots on the way.

Afternoon: Visiting the Castle in Niedzica – one of the most precious sites among the Polish fortified architecture. It was built in the early 14th century on the Hungarian side of the border, opposite the Polish fortress in Czorsztyn. Today it houses a historical museum whose collection includes documents concerning the history of the castle and the Spisz region. Below the castle there is a dam which dams up the waters of the Dunajec River.